Dwane Brown: North County Times sports columnist Jay Paris. Well, the Broncos, of Denver, are now 5-0, Jay. They beat the New England Patriots 20-17 in overtime yesterday. How do you think the struggling San Diego Chargers will fair against the Broncos next Monday night?
Jay Paris: Boy, they don't little choice but to fair well. The Broncos are starting to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the teams. Those ugly uniforms notwithstanding, one tough defense up there, they've allowed 43 points in five games, by comparison the Chargers have allowed 102 points in four games. So, the Broncos are for real, and all you have to do to solidify that is look at the standings, undefeated.
Alan Ray: Been lot of talk this week about getting our San Diego Chargers back on track. That looks like a full-time job between now and a week from tonight.
Paris: Good thing they are getting the big bucks at Chargers Park. They got all the answers. They just need a little help. They got to establish a running game, they've got to stop the run and they need to figure out a way to get to the passers. That was a big thing this year, their pass-rush was going to be improved to help the secondary and the defense and all that. To date, it hasn't got there. There's a lot of good talk coming out of that bye-week. How they got on the right page, communicating well and all those coaches' buzz words, coach speak. So, let's see, the next three games against AFC West teams, so now's the time. If they are going to make a move, they got to get it right quickly.
Ray: Well, the real question is how is LaDainian Tomlinson?
Paris:: He's doing fine. Heck, he's probably got fresher legs than me and you. They don't run him that much anymore; he's had another week to rest that ankle, which cost him two games. I think the bigger problem there are the big legs up front, which is called the front five, the guys that are blocking. LT so far has had very little running room when he was healthy. The Chargers too have to prove that they are interested in establishing some kind of running game. To date, that hasn't happened.
Brown: Yeah, I agree, those throwback uniforms that Denver wore Sunday were pretty ugly. They looked like the Padres of '72.
Paris: Yes they did.
Brown: Well, speaking of the Padres, the team seems to be mum on a replacement for manager Kevin Towers. Why aren't we hearing much about candidates?
Paris: Jeffery Moorad is being real careful with this one and taking his time. There's some talk of some assistance in Boston he has an eye on. He claims he's not going to raid his old team, Arizona front office, the Diamond Backs folks. Kind of a cardinal rule, you don't make big news during the World Series on the Major League Baseball front. So, if something is going to happen, it's going to happen this week or after the series. But it's going to be a pragmatic businessman/baseball guy running this thing. Kevin Towers certainly had his faults and he also had his pluses. This will be Jeffrey Moorad's guy and type of guy, the type of guy he want to lead his team into the future.
Brown: Tiger Woods delivered the clinching points for the American team beating the international team in the President's Cup in San Francisco. Great weekend of golf.
Paris: Yeah, it was good. He beat Yang at his match, which got him a little bit of revenge. Tell you who has been playing good gold is our own Phil Mickelson. He won the tour championship the last tournament, played well yesterday against Retief Goosen. You know, that's a guy who has had a lot on his plate this year. For him to get through year and to finish strong really bodes well to next season for him.
Brown: Well, El Cajon native Jimmie Johnson won that Pepsi 500 at the Auto Club Speedway, Jay. Is he back in control of NASCAR's chase for the championship?
Paris: Yeah, you know he's zeroing in on his fourth title on that driving as fast as you were trying to get to work, I'm sure. He always drives well up in Fontana. He's won that thing three or four times now. On top of that, he does a heck of a lot of stuff for the community and raises a ton of money for the charity when he's back in town here. So, class act all the way around, he's going down as one of the greatest NASCAR drivers ever.
Brown: Thanks much, Jay.
Paris: OK, cheers.
Brown: North County Times sports columnist Jay Paris
